Chapter 446: War in Southern Xinjiang
If the Ministry of War under Wang Ziteng is added, then the Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of War, and Ministry of Revenue of the six ministries in the court will all be under his control.
"Your Majesty, your son thanks you!"
"Go!" The retired emperor waved his hand tiredly. He was not young anymore, and he was really tired after tossing and turning in the middle of the night and his mind was so fluctuating.
"By the way, let that child enter the palace tomorrow and have dinner with me!"
Emperor Longxing hesitated for a moment, "Father, how about two days? I'm asking him to deal with the matter of Juxian Manor!"
"I've heard about this, too. Wasn't it Li Yu who resorted to trickery to provoke the child? He's your legitimate son, and you're so careless about it? There's a distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children. Where are the rules? Since when has a illegitimate child been able to proactively provoke a legitimate son?"
The words of the retired emperor made Emperor Longxing feel a little embarrassed. He could not do what the retired emperor did. Although he was a concubine's son, he was still his son after all. It was not easy for him to take sides when his two sons were fighting.
"It must be Zhongshun who did something!"
"That old man Qian Yan is indeed a formidable one. Even I get a headache just seeing him. It's just a few lives lost, not a big deal. Let Tu Huai thoroughly investigate that gambling den. I don't believe they won't find anything. We can just find an excuse to get away with it. If Zhongshun keeps pestering me, I'll give him a warning."
"Also, this matter also involves the Cao Gang?"
"Back then, in order to stabilize the situation in various places, I had to rely on the Cao Gang . However, in recent years, the Cao Gang has grown a bit too much. Of those people in the Canal Transport Office, few are still working for the court. I'll take this opportunity to let that kid teach the Cao Gang a lesson and let them know that no matter how big they become, they are nothing more than a low-ranking gang."
"If you want to influence the court, the Cao Gang is not enough."
"You can handle these trivial matters and don't bother me. There's no need to delay letting that boy enter the palace tomorrow. My grandson has been away from home for sixteen years and now he's finally back. It wouldn't be too much for him to have a meal with an old man like me."
Although the grandfather and grandson were close before, things have changed now.
"Also, you and the Queen should come over tomorrow!"
Feeling the kindness of the retired emperor, Emperor Longxing was also delighted and immediately nodded in response, "Your son obeys your order. Summon him to the palace tomorrow morning."
While the capital was still prosperous and peaceful, some trouble broke out in the southwest of Daqian.
As mentioned earlier, the four founding princes of different surnames, the Mu family of Dong'an County Prince and the Yu family of Xining County Prince, have fallen into decline. Although they still have descendants to support their families, their power and status are far from what they once were. However, the Shui family of Beijing County Prince and the Zhao family of Nan'an County Prince are still prosperous.
Previously, the old Prince of Beijing had made great contributions during the reign of the Supreme Emperor, so Shui Rong inherited the title without any downgrade and held some influence in the court. However, with the failure of his previous rebellion and the death of Prince of Beijing Shui Rong, the lineage of Prince of Beijing was effectively extinct. Therefore, of the four princes of different surnames, only the lineage of the Prince of Nan'an remained prosperous.
However, the lineage of the Prince of Nan'an is not in the capital, but in Shu.
The Prince of Nannan has nearly 100,000 troops stationed in Shu, one of the reasons being because Shu is special!
With Chengdu as its center, Shu was rich in resources and its people were affluent, practically akin to the Jiangnan region. Furthermore, Shu was easy to defend but difficult to attack, and throughout history, numerous rebel armies gathered in Shu to rebel against the imperial court.
Back then, the Zhao family was a prominent clan in Shu. When Taizu Daqian launched his army and attacked Shu, the Zhao family immediately surrendered. As a result, Taizu was able to easily incorporate all of Shu into his territory. The Zhao family's surrender, coupled with Taizu's power, greatly increased Taizu's power, making an unparalleled contribution to the founding of Daqian.
Therefore, after the founding of the Daqian Empire, in recognition of the Zhao family's contributions, Emperor Taizu granted them the title of Prince of Nan'an and allowed them to continue to rule Shu and stabilize the entire southwest of Daqian. Emperor Taizu was certainly aware of the dangers such a behemoth would pose to Daqian. However, at the time, Daqian was constantly at war, and a stable Shu and southwest region was extremely important. Moreover, he also needed to treat the Zhao family well and set an example for other great families. Therefore, the Zhao family was greatly favored by the emperor.
During the reign of Emperor Taizong, he continued to show favor to the Zhao family, making their position in Shu more stable.
During the reign of the retired emperor, he had wanted to resolve the issues in the southwest, but the continuous wars on the northern border left him no time to look south.
The reason why the Zhao family was allowed to rule Shu was, firstly, because of the importance of Shu. Secondly, it was because of the southern border area.
Daqian is adjacent to the Dali Kingdom in the southwest, but there are three huge forces at the border between the two countries. Or, it can be said that the problems left over from the founding of the country have never been resolved.
The first was the Qiongbu Prefecture area, which bordered Chengdu Prefecture to the south and Dali! The Xuhen and Wudeng tribes had ancient ancestral traditions, and were virtually isolated from the outside world by the Dadu River. Attacking Qiongbu Prefecture was extremely difficult. At the founding of the dynasty, Taizu had sent a large army south to attack them, but suffered heavy casualties and was unsuccessful.
The second is the Wumeng Mountain area east of Qiongbu Prefecture.
Led by the Wumeng tribe, the Mahu tribe, the Yinian tribe, the Yixi tribe, the Mangbu tribe, the Atou tribe, the Wusa tribe, and the Bigan tribe united with each other. Even Daqian did not dare to enter the Wumeng Mountain area easily.
The third is to continue westward from the Wumeng Mountain area. This is the territory of the Luo family, who call themselves the "Luo Family Ghost Kingdom."
Although at the time of the founding of the country, after the conquest of Daqian, these three forces also expressed their intention to submit to Daqian, however, it was only in name. In fact, Daqian never had jurisdiction over the southern border area. These areas did not pay taxes to Daqian, and the soldiers under its command only obeyed orders and not decrees.
In order to prevent the tribes in the southern border area from invading Daqian, they had to deploy troops in Shu for defense.
This is also an important reason why Prince Nan'an was able to live in the southwest for a long time!
Originally, the two sides did not interfere with each other. However, in early July, the Xuhen tribe, a powerful clan in Qiong Prefecture, rushed into the nearby Jiading Prefecture and looted, even killing the prefect of Jiading Prefecture.
Nan'an County Prince Zhao Guang was furious and immediately sent his troops south to personally question the Xuhen tribe. However, although Zhao Guang was the current Nan'an County Prince, he was far from his ancestors. The tens of thousands of soldiers under his command were directly defeated by the Xuhen tribe, and even Zhao Guang himself became a prisoner of the Xuhen tribe.
The Xuhen tribe put forward a condition. It is not impossible to release Zhao Guang, but Daqian must give a princess or a princess to marry the chief of the Xuhen tribe as a marriage alliance.
With such a devastating defeat, and Zhao Guang's capture, how could the Zhao family dare to easily inform the imperial court? However, concealing the news was impossible. After some discussion, the Zhao family first sent a large sum of silver to temporarily stabilize the Xuhen tribe. Then, the old concubine of the Nan'an County Prince's Mansion personally dispatched, traveling a thousand miles to the Divine Capital...
